UPDATE 20.03.2024
GEW are delighted to bring further news of our sponsorship of Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club (HHRFC), which will continue through to the end of the 2024/25 season.
Whilst the club continue to sponsor Heath’s pitch-side flags and post protectors, GEW has offered further sponsorship for HHRFC’s ongoing clubhouse project, which the club hope will be open to all by October 2024. The latest step in the project occurred during the week of the 18th of March, with the roof being fitted.
The clubhouse, which had its official ‘spade-in-the-ground’ ceremony with Wilf Bridges & Chris Neill (Captain and Vice-Captain of HHRFC) in January ‘24, has been the target of an ongoing crowdfunding campaign. Over £60,000 has been raised by the club so far, although there is still some way to go to reach the target budget of £250,000.
Further fundraising is planned over the coming months, but if you want to contribute to the clubhouse then contact Phil Herbert, the Commercial Director of HHRFC at hhrfccommercial@aol.co.uk.
An extension of the clubhouse project is also planned with the HHRFC board submitting a planning application to extend the south side of the clubhouse. This extension will include a 170 sqm gym with a roof terrace, plus two and a half padel tennis courts.
The plan for the clubhouse is to call it the Whitemans Green Sports Club (home of HHRFC) and to have it operating as a multi-sport community destination that is commercially viable when the rugby is not on. As well as the gym and padel courts, the club hope to drive interest in local footfall at the club.
Additionally, HHRFC are installing 169 solar panels to the roof, 6 x EV charging points, 2 x air source heat pumps, plus underfloor heating and building with a fabric first approach to ensure a highly efficient and environmentally sustainable facility that is future proofed for the next generation.
Phil Herbert, the Commercial Director at HHRFC, discussed GEWs continued sponsorship of HHRFC: “We are immensely grateful to GEW for their continued support for this and next season and are delighted to have them on board as one of our main sponsors at what is an incredibly exciting time for us, on and off the pitch, particularly with the new clubhouse just around the corner.
“Community grassroots rugby clubs like ours simply cannot survive without the generosity of local companies such as GEW and we really appreciate the fact that they stepped forward to help us.
“We are proud to have GEW’s branded post protectors & flags alongside us on the pitch and look forward to continuing to work together to maximise the success of our relationship and help introduce more of the local community to our great sport.”
Original post – 28.09.2022
GEW is proud to announce the beginning of a new sponsorship with one of Sussex’s premier amateur rugby clubs, Haywards Heath RFC (HHRFC).
The First XV for Haywards Heath RFC currently plays in the ‘Counties 2 Sussex’ League, which is the 8th tier of English rugby union competition. The team has enjoyed several successes since the club’s formation back in 1950; most recently being crowned as London 2 South East Champions for the 2019 – 2020 season. The club has a long-standing record of developing players who go on to play professionally, including such elite names as Ben Broster, Joe Marler and Billy Twelvetrees.
A small group of sponsors support Haywards Heath RFC in various ways, and GEW is now the club’s new sponsor specifically for the post protectors and pitch-side flags, across all teams.
Chris Neill is Lead Automation Engineer at GEW’s HQ in Crawley, West Sussex. He has been with the company for over 7 years and is also a regular player for Heath’s First XV in his free time, having captained the team for the 2021-22 season. It was this association that naturally led to GEW’s newly-founded involvement in the club. As a highly successful company, GEW regularly sponsor sports teams, charities and other worthy causes local to its Sussex base.
Phil Herbert, Commercial Director at HHRFC, comments on the new partnership: “Heath are hugely grateful to GEW for stepping in as the main sponsor of our 1st team pitch post pads and flags and it is exciting to see a local business brand being promoted at Whitemans Green every weekend. Without the generosity of sponsorship partners such as GEW, a grassroots sports club such as Haywards Heath RFC would struggle to cover the costs of delivering rugby across its membership. We are proud to display the GEW brand and delighted to enter into a partnership which we hope will be beneficial for both parties for years to come.”
